Zootaxa 4999 (4): 301–324 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2021 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4999.4.1 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:ACA6BED4-7897-4F95-8FC8-58AC771E172A Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Paguristes tortugae Schmitt, 1933 complex and selected other Paguroidea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) CATHERINE W. CRAIG1* & DARRYL L. FELDER1 1Department of Biology and Laboratory for Crustacean Research, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, P.O. Box 42451, Lafayette, Louisiana, 70504–2451,
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7679-7712 *Corresponding author.
[email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3479-2654 Abstract Morphological characters, as presently applied to describe members of the Paguristes tortugae Schmitt, 1933 species complex, appear to be of limited value in inferring phylogenetic relationships within the genus, and may have similarly misinformed understanding of relationships between members of this complex and those presently assigned to the related genera Areopaguristes Rahayu & McLaughlin, 2010 and Pseudopaguristes McLaughlin, 2002. Previously undocumented observations of similarities and differences in color patterns among populations additionally suggest genetic divergences within some species, or alternatively seem to support phylogenetic groupings of some species. In the present study, a Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analysis was undertaken based on the H3, 12S mtDNA, and 16S mtDNA sequences of 148 individuals, primarily representatives of paguroid species from the western Atlantic. This molecular analysis supported a polyphyletic Diogenidae Ortmann, 1892, although incomplete taxonomic sampling among the genera of Diogenidae limits the utility of this finding for resolving family level relationships.